REVIEW: Marty Achatz / STREAKING IN TONGUES — Slow Dancing with Bigfoot (LP)
Michigan’s Streaking in Tongues has teamed with poet Marty Achatz on their latest release, the wonderfully titled Slow Dancing with Bigfoot. The fifteen track collection fuses Elliott and Ronnie Ferguson’s spartan yet eloquent musical landscapes with brief poems from this modern master of the form. I am not acquainted with Achatz’s work and have deliberately kept myself in the dark about it believing that knowing more may steer my review in undesirable directions. There’s every indication listening to this work, however, that Achatz is in his early 40’s and numerous stylistic peccadilloes along the way point towards him being a veteran author rather than some sort of precocious novice.
URL: http://www.streakingintongues.com/
ABOUT MARTIN ACHATZ: https://www.facebook.com/people/Martin-Achatz/100014667936243/
The opening “Thirteen Ways of Looking at Bigfoot” proves his craftsmanship. Drawing from the famous Wallace Stevens poem entitled “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” as its inspiration, Achatz pulls us into Bigfoot’s world with a series of poetic snapshots. It is a shapely work — it would not surprise me if Achatz intended this to be the lead-off poem from the outset but its well-tailored effects start off the release with one of its highest points. Other poems are comparable, however. He follows it with an equally strong “Bigfoot Takes His Wife to Mount Rushmore for Their Honeymoon”. It has a distinctly comedic vibe at some points, a feature of Achatz’s writing further enhanced by his sometimes wry delivery, but there are serious matters at hand as well. His use of the Bigfoot figure is open to interpretation — it is another strength of the collection that it encourages, rather than resists, multiple readings.
“Butterflies Taste with Their Feet” is another interlude of sorts where Achatz’s focus turns from Bigfoot. Several poems are built around an arcane fact about an animal’s life — insects, swine, and aquatic creatures are chosen — and used as a “jumping off” point for an examination of other matters. He finds many metaphors in these facts and condenses them into short poems fully emmeshed in the natural world. His sense for conveying natural phenomena is impressive throughout this release and the musical accompaniment approximates his delicacy.
Keyboards and guitar team for “Bigfoot and Jim Harrison Skinny Dip in Morgan Pond on Father’s Day” to provide a spot-on backdrop for the collection’s best poem. His penchant for invoking natural phenomena and his powerful similes hit a peak with this work. Another quality present in Achatz’s delivery is barely repressed joy; you can hear percolating under the words in this piece. It is the joy of creation — the writer brings a poem to life on the page but brings it to life once again in a setting such as this.
“Bigfoot Tries to Fix His Daughter’s Broken Heart” has tasteful guitar recalling classic country ballads about heartache without ever overshadowing the words. Its easy amble complements the mood of a father haplessly attempting to address what cannot be addressed. The sensitivity in this work is wonderfully wrought. The finale “Bigfoot Gives Thanks” has an appropriate leave-taking spirit and concludes the release on a warm and affectionate note. This is one of the more worthwhile releases I’ve encountered during 2021 and I’ll be looking into other releases from Marty Achatz and Streaking with Tongues. It’s difficult to envision a more fruitful marriage of music and poetry.
Colin Jordan
